co-worker sick 6 days with flu

[Michael]

There's nothing heroic about digging a ditch for these companies. Relax people.

I don't really see it as heroic, I see it as showing up when you're able because you agreed to in your contract.

Hah, don't be such a slave to contracts and orthodoxy.

[Popeye_Card]

There's nothing heroic about digging a ditch for these companies. Relax people.

To be clear, I am obviously not hardcore about being a hero for my company (as my post count can attest). I do however pride myself on being dependable, and if I have a meeting with a client or a report due, I am going to suck it up, take some meds, and be there.

My beef isn't with people who are sick and use their days. It is with people who I feel abuse the system by staying home for hangovers (wusses) or as extra vacation time. In my line of work, that's generally a no-no.

[TheoSqua]

I'm a bit of a hard ass when it comes to missing work, i average about 1 day missed a year, so i don't really have a lot of sympathy for missing a lot of work.

We're currently on a huge deadline here at work. It's basically the cumulation of the entire years work, and it's due on the 22nd. We have way more than 3 weeks worth of work to do in the next 3 weeks.

My co-worker, who happens to be the best programmer on our team and an integral part of this process, didn't show up to work on wed, thurs, fri, or today. Apparently he pulled a muscle in his back and it's caused him to be out of work for 4 days.

I could understand if he worked construction or landscaping and was having to move 80 pound rocks all day. But this is a computer job. He uses his brain and his fingers. The most strenuous activity involved in the job is walking 2 blocks from the parking lot to the building. And considering this is like the absolute worst time possible for him to be missing work, i just don't get it. Maybe he wretched his back so bad that he can't even stand up, or something. I just have a hard time figuring out what he could have done to himself to where he hurt himself so bad that he is physically incapable of working on a computer for six days during the most important two weeks of the entire year for our department.

man, i pity the karma that will come back to you on this one.

desk jobs are terrible for your back, especially if you are out of shape. it creeps up on you, and the final straw can be just bending over to tie your shoes. Once the back goes out, you are screwed. if he could be there, he would be. he's probably so drugged up on muscle relaxers and narcotics that you would not want him working on code.

go big picture on this one, buddy.

If this were a rare happening i'd be a lot more understanding. Stuff happens, life sucks, i'm aware of that. Difference is, he tends to have some "episode" once a month where he just misses 3 days because of it. Plus he tends to miss about 1 day a week outside of that. The thing going for him is that he's freaking brilliant. I've been doing my job for about six years, and he's been doing this for about 3 and he's twice as good as I am. I can't emphasize enough how good he is at his job. It's prolly the main reason he has his job still. But on the other hand when i'm working past midnight on a friday night and coming in on Saturdays to compensate for getting stuff done because we have a deadline and i'm the only other person on the team that can do some of the stuff he does, i feel it's only human nature to at least get frustrated. Even if he has a perfectly 100% acceptable reason for not being here, being aggrivated that I'm having to pick up the work is only human nature. I've had my rant, so now it's time to suck it up and finish the job.

[JCShutout]

There's nothing heroic about digging a ditch for these companies. Relax people.

I don't really see it as heroic, I see it as showing up when you're able because you agreed to in your contract.

Hah, don't be such a slave to contracts and orthodoxy.

That's an ironic statement, lol! Hell look at my post count, and my, uh, theology.

Its not really about the contract though, its just how I was raised. I told them I would show up (and do my best) whenever I wasn't sick and didn't have to miss for school or a family emergency, so I do that. In exchange they agree to underpay me. hah!

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

You all are pawns.

Enjoy working hard to make others rich. But, don't start a rant about money/vacation/anything work related if you don't fully exploit all that your company offers you.

again, i'm not saying throw others under the bus, but also don't be afraid to call in sick when you have nothing going on in order to further advance your agenda. Take that for what it's worth, but I don't think your company would feel bad demanding you work 40 hours a week if that's what you all agreed to. I don't understand why you would feel bad taking 15 days off a year if that is also what you agreed to.....be it sick or vacation....it doesn't matter to them rather you are throwing up or looking at investment properties, they aren't gaining anythnig from you that day....

[TheoSqua]

You all are pawns.

Enjoy working hard to make others rich. But, don't start a rant about money/vacation/anything work related if you don't fully exploit all that your company offers you.

again, i'm not saying throw others under the bus, but also don't be afraid to call in sick when you have nothing going on in order to further advance your agenda. Take that for what it's worth, but I don't think your company would feel bad demanding you work 40 hours a week if that's what you all agreed to. I don't understand why you would feel bad taking 15 days off a year if that is also what you agreed to.....be it sick or vacation....it doesn't matter to them rather you are throwing up or looking at investment properties, they aren't gaining anythnig from you that day....

I don't have this moral dilemma here. My sick time is called sick/personal time, and it accumulates. So i can use it whenever I want for whatever reason I want. I get 2 hours a week of it.

[AWvsCBsteeeerike3]

I don't have this moral dilemma here. My sick time is called sick/personal time, and it accumulates. So i can use it whenever I want for whatever reason I want. I get 2 hours a week of it.

++ Glad to hear it.

[JCShutout]

You all are pawns.

Enjoy working hard to make others rich. But, don't start a rant about money/vacation/anything work related if you don't fully exploit all that your company offers you.

again, i'm not saying throw others under the bus, but also don't be afraid to call in sick when you have nothing going on in order to further advance your agenda. Take that for what it's worth, but I don't think your company would feel bad demanding you work 40 hours a week if that's what you all agreed to. I don't understand why you would feel bad taking 15 days off a year if that is also what you agreed to.....be it sick or vacation....it doesn't matter to them rather you are throwing up or looking at investment properties, they aren't gaining anythnig from you that day....

I can see what you're saying, and I'm pretty darned liberal, even for this board, but even then, I still look at it as someone else's money. I was raised by a small business owner. Sure I'm making them more rich, but if the company fails, I don't lose everything. Even if its a slow time, there's always SOMETHING I can do.

Peronally I think people should receive more vacation days (4 weeks/year), and have better health plans, because people need "mental health days", and preventative care is very important health-wise.

That said, I don't have that option, and I just... I don't know.

I do know that today I'm trying to do 6 things I've never been trained on and its not going well, because someone is still out, and one person is on vacation, which means there is no one working who has any training in anything related to the finance department.

[phins]

When I was 20, I got sick and spent a week in the ICU and a month in the hospital.

One day I woke up with a sore throat, I thought it was strep (because I've had it before)...3 days later, I was in the ER.

Whatever happened to me, it started shutting down my systems.
106-107 degree fevers (I was packed in ice)
Legions all over my lungs, pneumonia in both lungs...had to sit directly up, otherwise couldn't breathe
Started going blind in one eye (had surgery later on)
Had an incredible pain in my hip (had 3 surgeries until it got better)
Had blood work all over the country...and they still don't know what happened to me.

Took me two months to re-learn how to walk.

I've always been very similar to what JC describes, but one time I got sicker than all get out. Not quite as you describe, but very bad.

Had a sore throat, which turned into awful pain sore throat. tried to tough it out because of poor college kid syndrome. One night, after about 4 days, my kidneys felt like I was being kicked in them over and over. Couldn't stand up, and my girlfriend at the time had to take me to the ER. They admitted me, put like 3 bags of IV in me (i'm not a doctor, so I don't know the term). Did a chest x-ray and something bad was going on in there as well. Said I was so dehydrated from not eating/drinking (because of my throat) they said I could have died within a day.

I know it probably sucks JC, but sometimes it happens, even to people who never get sick. Hang in there, and pray it never happens to you my friend.

[letsgocards89]

When I was 20, I got sick and spent a week in the ICU and a month in the hospital.

One day I woke up with a sore throat, I thought it was strep (because I've had it before)...3 days later, I was in the ER.

Whatever happened to me, it started shutting down my systems.
106-107 degree fevers (I was packed in ice)
Legions all over my lungs, pneumonia in both lungs...had to sit directly up, otherwise couldn't breathe
Started going blind in one eye (had surgery later on)
Had an incredible pain in my hip (had 3 surgeries until it got better)
Had blood work all over the country...and they still don't know what happened to me.

Took me two months to re-learn how to walk.

Sounds like a severe case of ghonnaherpasiphaclap, IMO.